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D-49 still working to handle budget cuts for next year

Thursday night the Falcon D-49 School Board voted for flexibility, allowing the district to get out of multi-year contracts -- including with staff.

A teacher from the district told NF5 that staff was informed they would likely know by the end of the month whether or not they will have a job with D-49 next school year. A large part of the district's budget is in staff salaries.

Many faculty members were at Falcon High School Thursday, listening to changes from the board. The Board voted for a declaration of fiscal exigency, which board members say gives them more flexibility to deal with contracts as they try to meet their budget. This declaration could affect the contract of any vendor or service provider for the district, including teachers.

"It's not so much to try to stir the community to look at employees --that's a very small portion of it. This allows us to look at some of those ongoing contracts that we do year to year," said Board President Dave Martin.

A teacher NF5 spoke to said staff members were talking about this earlier today, and they've been getting ready for it.

"Some teachers are concerned, everyone's aware of the fact that there are budget cuts statewide," said Susan Cafren, a special education teacher within the district. Cafren said, even with the cuts, teachers are excited about the innovation process. She says it's giving them a chance to change things and hopefully improve performance in the classroom.

Staff members just want to see how these budget issues will all shake out.